Change – Forum Projects at CPH:DOX

Look at the photo and the drawing… two filmmakers from Azerbaijan pitching their project “Kura”, the river that flows into the Caspian Sea coming from Turkey and Georgia. In their upcoming film the two will travel on the river and tell several stories about water and people.
The Change program is great, I have followed it for the years is has existed. The presentation of the projects in Cinemateket was high standard, moderated by producer Christian Popp in a calm and fine way. Several of the projects can not be talked or written about, listed as confidential, so I mention “Kura” and “Entr’actes” (Ukraine/Belgium) by Yuriy Shylov, who follows charismatic 73-year-old Olena, who leads an amateur theater troupe for the elderly amid war.
More information from the website of CPH:DOX:
CHANGE is our development co-production training program in collaboration with IMS and EAVE, featuring documentary projects in development from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Committing to the power of documentary to catalyse change, the ambition of CHANGE is to increase equity and access to the international film market with a programme that will stimulate inter-regional co-production and connect projects, filmmakers and producers from the European Eastern Neighbourhood countries with the international film professionals gathered annually at CPH:DOX.
As a part of this overall mission, eight projects developed by CHANGE are presented for the first time in the framework of CPH:FORUM 2025 to the international industry. The Copenhagen presentation is a culmination of a 6-month long training program, consisting of three residential workshops, with the first two residential sessions in Chișinău, Moldova and culminating in Denmark during CPH:FORUM 2025.
The objective of the programme is to improve the participants’ skills in defining the content, core and goals of the film projects; in regional and international collaboration and co-production, financing structures and production environment; and in preparing for the encounter with the international market.